In the classroom this week we learned that wild rice is native to North America and is a sacred food of the Indigenous Anishinaabe peoples, whose land is now commonly referred to as the Great Lakes region. In Ojibwe, the word for wild rice, which is a sacred food of the Anishinaabe, is manoomin. We read a book called The Story of Manoomin, which features many pictures of children participating in the manoomin preparation process and watched a video from PBS Wisconsin called Food That Grows on the Water.
In the kitchen, the first grade chefs made a manoomin salad with several ingredients native to North America: wild rice, cranberries, squash, and pumpkin seeds. We learned to make a salad dressing by slowly drizzling in oil to form an emulsion with lemon juice. Wild rice is nutrient dense and high in protein and fiber. We are grateful we all had a chance to try this delicious ingredient produced by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians via Red Lake Nation Foods and Rainbow Grocery in the Mission District.
